Kentucky Co-ops Present Award at 77^th Annual Meeting that Emphasized Grid Reliability

Kentucky Electric Cooperatives recognized outdoorsman and television host Tim Farmer as its 2023 Distinguished Rural Kentuckian during the co-op association’s 77^th Annual Meeting in Louisville. As the host of “Kentucky Afield” for 20 years, and on the nationally syndicated “Tim Farmer’s Country Kitchen” since 2012, Farmer casts a positive light on Kentucky. Overcoming a traumatic injury while a U.S. Marine in the 1980s and a persistent painful condition to this day, Farmer’s story exemplifies the best of Kentucky.
 
Distinguished Rural Kentuckian is the highest honor bestowed by the association, which consists of 26 electric cooperatives across the commonwealth. It recognizes outstanding individuals who have devoted their lives to Kentucky in a way that matches the co-op mission of enhancing the quality of life here. Kentucky Electric Cooperatives President and CEO Chris Perry presented Farmer with the award following a special video tribute. The full video can be viewed on the association’s YouTube channel.
 

“If I ever did anything worthwhile, it’s because I have been surrounded with wonderful worthwhile family and friends,” said 2023 Distinguished Rural Kentuckian Tim Farmer. “And having the best parents in the world is the greatest blessing. Some of the wisest words I have ever heard came from the deepest hollers. What an honor to be in the company of folks that have preceded me in this tradition.”
 
Farmer is the 39^th Distinguished Rural Kentuckian. Since 1982, the association has honored recipients from the arts, politics, journalism, business, education, religion, athletics, and agriculture. Three former honorees were in attendance at this year’s banquet, including 2004 recipient Jim Host, 2017 honoree Byron Crawford and 2021 recipient David Beck.
 
“We are so proud to celebrate another outstanding year for Kentucky’s cooperatives and to recognize Tim Farmer’s inspirational story and dedication to Kentucky,” said Kentucky Electric Cooperatives President and CEO Chris Perry. “Behind our responsibility to deliver safe and reliable energy at the lowest cost possible, is the underlying mission to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. This meeting made clear, Kentucky’s electric cooperatives will advocate for their consumer-members, no matter what it takes.”
 
The Annual Meeting’s banquet also featured a keynote address from Hall of Fame basketball coach John Calipari of the University of Kentucky. Speaking to several hundred co-op members, friends and guests, Calipari praised Kentucky’s cooperatives, saying: “They serve half of our state. They’re about people first, not profits. And they’re big basketball fans. My goal for my team is to have the same commitment and resolve as you do in this room.”
 
With a theme of Support, Advocate, Educate, the meeting also included remarks by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Youth Leadership Council delegate Brennan Christmas of Logan County High School and nationally known energy journalist Robert Bryce, who urged co-ops to push back against government policies that threaten reliable and affordable power.   
 
During the Annual Meeting, the co-ops also celebrated the 75^th anniversary issue of Kentucky Living magazine, the flagship publication of the association that spotlights the people, places and activities that make Kentucky a great place to live, work and play.

Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative (UUS) is congratulating its sister cooperative and strategic partner ERMCO, Inc. upon the manufacture of its eight-millionth transformer since the company was founded in 1972.

At a ceremony at ERMCO’s Dyersburg, Tennessee plant on June 29, ERMCO President and CEO Tim Mills delivered the milestone pad-mount transformer to Chris Perry, president and CEO of both UUS and Kentucky Electric Cooperatives.

“ERMCO is the largest producer of distribution transformers and components in the United States,” Mills said. “We continue to invest in expanding our output, including the recent acquisition of Spire Power Solutions. We’re also increasing manufacturing efficiencies and developing our workforce to accelerate production to meet the nation’s critical infrastructure needs.”

In 2015, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives reached an agreement with ERMCO for UUS to utilize its industry-leading warehouse and distribution network to distribute ERMCO transformers across the UUS footprint primarily in the eastern United States. As part of the agreement, ERMCO purchased the assets of the Kentucky cooperatives’s transformer manufacturing plant.

“UUS and ERMCO were once fierce competitors,” Perry said. “But my board and I saw recognized our mutual commitment to cooperative principles and that together we would be successful. It is our duty as cooperatives to diligently look out for the best interests of our members, and thanks to the dedicaton of our respective workforces, our members have greatly benefitted from this partnership.

ERMCO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc (AECI).

“The board of directors of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. are committed to ensuring that ERMCO has the support needed to achieve its commendable production goals,” said Buddy Hasten, president and CEO of AECI. “AECI has a 50 year investment in the organization and will continue to serve as an advocate for ERMCO as the company continues its efforts to provide products that are critical to our nation’s power delivery infrastructure.”

ERMCO and United Utility Supply have worked together to meet supply chain challenges and industry pressures.

“ERMCO has stepped up to meet the growing needs. Our partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer satisfaction,” Perry added. “Together, we will redefine industry standards, develop groundbreaking technologies, and drive the transition toward a sustainable and resilient energy future.”

Mills provided perspective on the tremendous growth of the cooperative’s transformer manufacturing.

“Our first million took 258 months to produce, and reaching eight million took 27 months,” he said. “Moving forward, we see the potential to produce one million transformers each year. With our incredible team, we will make that happen.”

Column by U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell

“I want you to look me in the eyes,” President Biden told a young woman during his 2020 presidential campaign. “I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel.”

Well, the President is making good on that promise with yet another assault in his War on Affordable Energy. The Biden Administration announced new regulations in May that will further cripple America’s domestic energy production, threaten our national security, and squeeze workers and job creators in Middle America.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest rule will resurrect devastating emissions standards that liberals have spent more than a decade trying to drop on folks in Kentucky and the rest of coal country. The measure revives the Obama Administration’s so-called ‘Clean Power Plan’ with the intention of drastically reducing coal-fired power plants. In fact, the new requirements would require a whopping 60 percent of power plants in our country to either slash their greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent over the next decade or shut down.

By imposing unworkable deadlines and requiring unproven technologies that are not commercially available, the Biden Administration’s message to Kentucky’s power plants and the rest of coal country is clear: shut down.

“This could rein in Kentucky’s ability to generate further economic development moving forward,” said one Kentucky energy producer.

Jim Matheson of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association warned: This new rule would “force critical, always available power plants into early retirement.”

It “will further strain America’s electric grid and undermine decades of work to reliably keep the lights on across the nation,” he went on.

This latest version of the ‘Clean Power Plan’ comes at a time when energy usage is up 73 percent over the past four decades and widespread power outages continue to surge. Power plants that fail to meet the EPA’s stringent new requirements will be forced to shut down, further threatening the reliability of our power grids.

For two years, President Biden has given liberal activists the green light to push a radical climate agenda that only compounds the pain of Washington Democrats’ inflation. Lower-income ratepayers in particular will see their energy bills creep up as a result of these new mandates. And Eastern Kentucky, the heart of our coal country, could see more plants close and even more jobs lost.

By hollowing out production of affordable and reliable American energy, the Biden EPA’s new rule will threaten our energy security. Rather than unleash our own abundant reserves, Washington Democrats would apparently prefer to lean even further on our adversaries for critical supply chains.

Sadly, this is a story Kentuckians know all too well. For eight years under the Obama Administration, they watched the “War on Coal,” kill jobs and cripple communities across Appalachia. In his eight years in office, President Obama helped put more than 10,000 Kentucky miners out of work. Coal employment declined to levels we haven’t seen since the 1800s. And the damage is still being felt to this day. Now President Biden is picking up where he and President Obama left off. The Obama-Biden War on Coal has come in many different forms, but the same basic disdain for Middle America keeps showing its face.

Given President Biden’s track record on executive overreach, it should come as no surprise that the Supreme Court struck down a similar EPA mandate only a year ago. Last April, the Court made it clear that it’s Congress that gets to create energy policy, not unelected bureaucrats. But the Biden Administration’s climate activists are trying to ram this policy through again anyway. So I’m proud to stand with my Republican colleague, Senator Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is leading the charge in Congress against this punitive measure.

Washington Democrats’ latest power grab from the EPA is a recipe for soaring energy prices, electricity blackouts, and less national security. Working Americans cannot afford it — and Kentuckians least of all.

Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, is the Senate Republican Leader.

More than 1,000 broken utility poles

All across Kentucky, local electric cooperatives are wrapping up massive power restoration efforts five days after an historic windstorm snapped more than 1,000 utility poles and threw trees and other debris into power lines.

From a high of more than 300,000 consumer-members without power on Friday, as of 8pm (eastern) Wednesday, about 2,000 consumer-members remain without service, primarily in Kentucky cave country where restoration could take until the end of the week in the most severely damaged areas. Hundreds of members are without power in Edmonson and Grayson Counties. Much of that area is served by Warren RECC where local crews are working alongside mutual aid crews from several states. At Warren RECC alone, at least 385 broken poles are reported.

“We continue to ask for patience as we restore the remaining areas,” said Kim Phelps, Sr. Dir., Communications and Public Relations. “We are in the stage of restoration where pole replacements, removing trees from power lines, and putting up lines allows us to turn the power on to just a few houses at a time.”

Even as co-ops complete restoration efforts, linemen are still on the job, checking on areas that still have power but where infrastructure is damaged.

“Crews are coming across broken poles where electric service is live,” said Randy Meredith, Director of Safety & Training at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the association which supports local co-ops. “We cannot emphasize this enough. Please report such broken poles to your co-op and stay away from these dangerous situations, including damaged trees leaning into electric lines.”

Most of the mutual aid crews from more than 60 sister co-ops in 11 different states are now headed home. Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative continues to assist with storm response to cooperatives across the region. Its Cooperative Distribution Center in Louisville is responding with transformers, power lines, poles and all other materials needed to outfit an electric utility.

Co-op crews continue massive restoration

Though Kentucky’s electric cooperatives have restored service to 94 percent of the consumer-members who lost power in Friday’s windstorm, co-ops are not letting up on their massive response to the natural disaster.

“It’s all hands on deck,” said Randy Meredith, Director of Safety & Training at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the association which supports local co-ops. “Co-op crews are not letting up. We are working around the clock. Each crew is working 16 hour shifts at staggered times, so there are crews working 24/7.”

Co-ops are making steady progress restoring power. At the height of the windstorm on Friday, more than 300,000 consumer-members lost power in Kentucky. As of 1:00pm (EST) on Tuesday, about 15,000 members remain without power. The remaining outages are among the most difficult to address.

“In addition to the many communities, industries and neighborhoods served by electric cooperatives, co-ops also pride themselves in providing electricity to the most remote, most difficult to serve areas of Kentucky,” said Joe Arnold, Vice-President of Strategic Communications. “These areas are also often among the most difficult to restore service after a natural disaster given the terrain and other factors. Our co-ops value every co-op member, and with the help of mutual aid crews from co-ops in 11 states, they have made significant progress.”

About 500 personnel have arrived from more than 60 sister co-ops. Coordinated by Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association of co-ops, crews are working here from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

Several co-ops are receiving assistance from other utilities within the state, as well as hundreds of contract crews. Co-ops report more than 600 broken utility poles and thousands of power lines down across the 117 counties served by co-ops across the commonwealth.

Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative is assisting with storm response to cooperatives across the region. Its Cooperative Distribution Center in Louisville is responding with transformers, power lines, poles and all other materials needed to outfit an electric utility.

Remaining outages are among most difficult

The mutual aid response to power restoration in Kentucky continues to grow, as two more states have sent crews to sister co-ops here.

With the addition of co-op crews from Indiana and Arkansas, co-ops from 11 different states are now assisting, not including the crews from within Kentucky who are also traveling to neighboring cooperatives.

With damage as widespread as any natural disaster in Kentucky electric cooperative history, co-ops are making steady progress restoring power. At the height of the windstorm on Friday, more than 300,000 consumer-members lost power in Kentucky. As of 4:00pm (EST) on Monday, about 34,000 members remain without power. With the ground saturated from heavy rains, heavy trucks have had difficulty accessing damaged infrastructure.

About 475 personnel have arrived from more than 60 sister co-ops. Coordinated by Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association of co-ops, crews are working here from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

In addition, several co-ops are receiving assistance from other utilities within the state, as well as hundreds of contract crews. Co-ops report more than 600 broken utility poles and thousands of power lines down across the 117 counties served by co-ops across the commonwealth.

“Though co-ops have made steady progress restoring nearly 90 percent of the outages since Friday, this last 10 percent will likely be the most challenging and time consuming,” said Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “Co-op staff take these outages personally and share the urgency of co-op members to restore service as quickly as possible. The messages of support from the membership are so encouraging.” Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative is assisting with storm response to cooperatives across the region. Its Cooperative Distribution Center in Louisville is responding with transformers, power lines, poles and all other materials needed to outfit an electric utility

Massive windstorm damage prompts cooperation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 5, 2023) – With damage as widespread as any natural disaster in Kentucky electric cooperative history, co-ops are making steady progress restoring power.

At the height of the windstorm on Friday, more than 300,000 consumer-members lost power in Kentucky. As of 3:00pm (EST) on Sunday, about 74,000 members remain without power. With the ground saturated from heavy rains, heavy trucks have had difficulty accessing damaged infrastructure.

Because all 26 of Kentucky’s electric cooperatives sustained damage in this historic event, Kentucky co-op crews have stayed at home to restore power locally. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 375 personnel have arrived from 58 sister co-ops. Coordinated by Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association of co-ops, crews are working here from Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

In addition, several co-ops are receiving assistance from other utilities within the state, as well as hundreds of contract crews. Co-ops report hundreds of snapped utility poles and thousands of power lines down across the 117 counties served by co-ops across the commonwealth.

“With the help of our fellow co-ops, power restoration work is continuing around the clock.” said Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “Our member co-ops understand this prolonged outage is a major inconvenience for members. We hear and share their frustration. We are thankful that most homes and businesses were spared damage in this event, but the persistent high winds and hurricane-strength gusts on Friday took a tremendous toll on electric infrastructure.”

Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative is assisting with storm response to cooperatives across the region. Its Cooperative Distribution Center in Louisville is responding with transformers, power lines, poles and all other materials needed to outfit an electric utility.

Mutual aid crews demonstrate power of cooperatives

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 4, 2023) – After a day of relentless high winds and hurricane-strength gusts, Kentucky’s 26 electric cooperatives are making progress restoring electric service and are advising consumer-members it will take days before all power is restored.

Co-ops report hundreds of snapped utility poles and thousands of power lines down across the 117 counties served by co-ops across the commonwealth.

Because surrounding states were also affected by the damaging winds, mutual aid crews are traveling from farther distances to help. Coordinated by Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association of co-ops, crews are arriving from Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

At the height of the windstorm, more than 300,000 consumer-members lost power in Kentucky. As of 1:00pm (EST) on Saturday, about 148,000 members remained without power. In the initial response, restoration efforts were complicated by persistent winds of more than 40 miles per hour, well after the gusts that topped 70 miles per hour. In addition, soft ground from heavy rains slows the progress of heavy equipment such as the line trucks to access damaged infrastructure. Co-op crews welcomed the calm conditions on Saturday.

“The damage from this event is as widespread as any natural disaster I have ever seen in Kentucky co-op history,” said Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “All 24 distribution co-ops and both of our generation and transmission co-ops sustained damage in the windstorm.”

In a briefing at the state capitol Saturday morning, Gov. Andy Beshear acknowledged power restoration efforts and the tall task ahead of crews.

“The biggest damage appears to be trees and power lines and the poles on the power lines,” Beshear said. “Utility partners are working quickly to restore services, but this may take some time. This is very significant, widespread damage throughout Kentucky. It is multiple utility providers that are working and it’s going to take at least days to get power up in some places.”

Kentucky Emergency Management Director Jeremy Slinker echoed co-op safety messaging, reminding Kentuckians about generator safety and staying away from power lines.

“Always remember not to use generators indoors,” Slinker said. “Countless numbers of poles and lines are down – always assume they are hot, and do not get near them. Report these downed lines to authorities.”

Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative is assisting with storm response to cooperatives across the region. Its Cooperative Distribution Center in Louisville is responding with transformers, power lines, poles and all other materials needed to outfit an electric utility.

Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

Two months after South Kentucky RECC handed out buckets and light bulbs at a member appreciation day drive-thru, many of those same consumer-members are driving back to the co-op to drop off donations for victims of massive flooding in Eastern Kentucky.

“Our membership and our cooperative family are a blessing,” said Robin Pendergrass, a supervisor at the co-op’s call center. “We are just so thankful for everybody.”

In a video at the co-op’s member appreciation day on June 8, Pendergrass explained that it was her favorite time of the year to step out from behind the scenes to meet face to face with co-op members. Now, she is letting members know that their generosity and compassion for flood survivors is personal for her. She is a native of Perry County where her relatives are literally digging out of mud, muck and debris.

Yet their focus is not on what they have lost.

“I am very blessed to say that my nephew survived,” Pendergrass says with a sob catching in her throat. “Oh my goodness, I’m sorry.”

Her nephew, Eric Watts, got caught up in surging floodwaters while trying to drive home to his wife and three children in Vicco, Kentucky, a tiny city that sits in a mountain valley. Waters from a tributary of the North Fork of the Kentucky River filled that valley when more than 10 inches of rain fell in under 48 hours in late July.

“It was chest deep inside his vehicle, and he had to swim out,” Pendergrass explained. “We’re just blessed he was physically able to fight the water and to get to safety.”

After managing to get his family to higher ground at his mother-in-law’s home, Watts returned to find his own home overtaken by the flash flood. He and his wife are now trying to clear the home of several feet of mud, armed with cleaning supplies donated by electric cooperative members.

“We got such a huge response from our employees and members,” said Morghan Blevins, a service center representative at South Kentucky RECC. “People were still bringing stuff in as we were loading up to deliver it.”

Blevins is a native of Knott County, where ten adults and four children died in the flash flooding and where some survivors are still trying to assess what can be salvaged and others are still trying to locate their homes.

“The amazing thing is the resilience of the mountains,” Blevins emphasized. “The people have pulled together like nothing that I have ever seen. People who have lost everything. Instead of dwelling on that or mourning that, they’re helping people two or three houses up the road who didn’t lose their home. They’re helping them clean up and salvage what they have. It’s just a testament to the people of the area and it just makes me proud to be able to say that that’s where I grew up, and that’s where I’m from.”

Blevins and Pendergrass are among dozens of electric cooperative employees coordinating relief efforts in the region.

Several Jackson Energy employees spent a day in Oneida, Kentucky helping restoration efforts and taking care of neighbors in Clay County.

“It was humbling to see just a glimpse of the damage to the roads that are still impassible, homes that are destroyed and the daily livelihoods that will never be the same,” said Lisa Baker, the co-op’s executive administrative assistant. “But the care and concern shown through the donations and people wanting to help was immeasurable.”

At its Paintsville office, Big Sandy RECC is inviting members to drop off items and the co-op will see that they are given to families in need. Licking Valley RECC has delivered supplies and encourages more donations in hard-hit Breathitt County. Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association of co-ops, coordinates the Kentucky Rural Electric Disaster Fund which assists electric cooperative employees who have suffered any losses.

Meanwhile, Appalachia is focusing on survival.

“There is no time right now to mourn what you’ve lost or dwell on that,” Blevins said “You’ve just got to clean up.”